Ever since Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz revealed their brand-new racers at the Frankfurt Motor Show, we knew that the 2012 DTM season was going to be very promising. These cars, however, were billed as concepts – and with good reason as the final versions were still under development.
Now, Audi Motorsport has revealed that the A5 DTM has been homologated and therefore, the car shown above is the one that will battle the M3 and the C-Class Coupe racers starting with this season’s premiere at Hockenheimring on April 29.
It also means that the three Audi factory teams can start preparing their cars for the first official test that will take place at Valencia on March 20-22.
DTM organizers having tightened up the rules this year forcing many shared parts and applying restrictions in aerodynamics in order to reduce costs, maximize safety and ensure stiff competition. As a result, Audi and its rivals have been honing their 2012 cars up to make them as competitive as possible.
“More than ever before, even the minutest detail will count this year in the DTM,” acknowledges Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich, Head of Audi Motorsport. “Obviously, you want to keep the things you’ve worked out over the past few months under wraps for as long as possible.”
Although the camouflage does hide many details, we can discern some differences between the early prototype and the finished car.
Nothing major, mind you, as the new rules mandate that more than 50 parts, including the carbon-fiber tub, are to be shared between the three competitors. As Dr. Ulrich noted, this is the reason why they paid attention to “details”.
From what we can tell, the most obvious difference is the larger rear diffuser, the right-hand side exiting exhaust pipe, the smaller side and front air scoops and the two larger, separate side spoilers that have replaced the previous edition’s single, double-edged element.
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